Picked up the Nite Ize LED for the mini Mag.

I have a niteized minimag that I use mostly as a backup light at work (mostly for tracking). I like it and carry it as a primary when I'm not working at night. My primary light is a 3 AA Twin task Steamlight that has both a three small LED flood mode and a single bright Luxeon LED. The three LED mode (vs. the single bright LED) makes the the batteries last many, many times longer (like three or four times). That's a very significant difference.

I also use rechargeable NIMHs in the Twin Task and the Minimag, but they don't last as long. My backup batteries are regular AA's.

Everything I carry (Night Vision, GPS, flashlights) use AA's. The only things that don't are my comms and a rechargeable bright light (Streamlight Strion). It makes life easier and a I can carry 4, 8, or 12 AA's very easily.
 
just buy the 3watt mini mag LED flashlight, its only $20 at walmart and blows that upgrade out of the water, plus 2 of my friends have the Nite Ize and they thought it was the biggest waste of money and one stopped working after about 2 months. i bought the MAG light upgrade for my 3D cell MAG and it was the best $18 investment ive made in a while. Nite Ize is nothing but bad news
 
I too recently bought the 3 bulb LED drop-in for my minimag. I went into the store looking for the original replacement bulbs but alas, nothing. It was a tough choice between the drop-in and simply buying a new mini mag. (The drop-ins were still at list price). I have gotten used to not having the flood-to-spot that the original had. One trick I do miss though. I take the bezel completely off and place the butt of the light into it so the mini mag acts like a candle. Doesn't work with the new assembly.
 
I just checked out the single 1 watt LED at Target. I was tempted to get it, but am still undecided on the $20 upgrade to an $8 light :) It does come with the clickie tailcap too, so may well be worth it.
 
I have heard though that the tail cap switch conversions for the mini mags are tempermental at best. Caveat Emptor.
 
I stopped at wally world today and picked up one of the 3 LED models. Seems to work good. Its brighter, but not a whole lot. Definitely a whiter light though. It is bright enough to navigate or look for fire wood in the dark if need be in a survival situation.
 
Eyegor said:
I have heard though that the tail cap switch conversions for the mini mags are tempermental at best. Caveat Emptor.
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To my knowledge, there are at least three kinds -- a simple reverse clickie type, one with a flashing LED (allowing you to find the light in the dark if it's turned off) and one with the flashing LED that has multiple setting (low, med, high, slow strobe, fast strobe). I've owned all three and the simple clickie has never failed me. The other two worked per se but seemed to take a lot of pressure such that I wouldn't want to have to turn one on in a hurry. Maybe I just had lemons? :confused:
 
again please dont waste money on Nite Ize products like i said the 3watt led mini mag at walmart is only $20 and is really really bright and worth every penny
 
Yeah, but the mag light LED version is too long for my kit. Its about 1-1/4" longer than the regular mini-mag
 
yeah i dont stick in my pack, i always have it at my side. I Braided up a little holster for it outta parachord and a keyring and it holds it wonderfully and is always an easy reach away
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sorry camera phone pics
 
About 2 years ago, we updated all four of the AA minimags we had at the house. Two of Karens, and two for me. They've seen alot of use, and I use mine for the dog's last walk of the night before turning in, when I take her out to the woods. They have been very reliable and have doubled the life of the batteries. The soft white flood lights up the trail for a good 20 yards so it's good enough for our uses. I have not missed the adjustable beam much at all.

We used the regular 5 dollar drop in without the clicky tail cap, so in an emergency we can put the standard bulb thats in the mag tail cap back in if the Nite-eze fails for some reason, but they have'nt. The only problem was when I was working overhead on the bathroom ceiling fan and dropped the mag several feet and it bounced off the top of the toilet and hit the ceramic tile floor. One of the LED's stopped working, but the other two were still burning. I mailed it back to nite-eze nd they sent us a new unit. We love our nite-eze.
 
Eyegor said:
One trick I do miss though. I take the bezel completely off and place the butt of the light into it so the mini mag acts like a candle. Doesn't work with the new assembly.
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How come? Mine does.

btuner: yeah i dont stick in my pack, i always have it at my side. I Braided up a little holster for it outta parachord and a keyring and it holds it wonderfully and is always an easy reach away
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Very innovative - good job. :thumbup:

tknife: I just checked out the single 1 watt LED at Target. I was tempted to get it, but am still undecided on the $20 upgrade to an $8 light It does come with the clickie tailcap too, so may well be worth it.
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IMHO, tailcap clickies suck on any flashlight. I did buy one of those kits with the tailcap clickie, however, and had no problem with it. Tailcap clickies are the one thing I don't like about my Inova X1.

Doc
 
btuner said:
2 of my friends have the Nite Ize and they thought it was the biggest waste of money and one stopped working after about 2 months.
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My experience is somewhat similar.

I like the Nite-Ize conversion unit for the Mini-Mag AA due to its low price & the durability of the LED's (vs incandescent bulb). **BUT** after about a couple dozen on/off cycles the switch on mine would not turn the light off. It was stuck permanently in the "on" mode.

So I inverted the battery in the tailgunner position, leading to a net zero voltage applied to the LED = it is off. To turn the light on, I remove the tailcap, invert & reinsert the rear battery (PITA to do in the dark but whatcha gonna do?), and replace the tailcap. Now the light is on. To turn the light off, I remove the tailcap, re-invert the rear battery, and replace the tailcap.

Not handy, but it works. However, due to the inconvenience the Mini-Mag AA is now my backup light in a pack to an Inova X02 that lives in my work vest pocket.
 
RokJok said:
My experience is somewhat similar.

I like the Nite-Ize conversion unit for the Mini-Mag AA due to its low price & the durability of the LED's (vs incandescent bulb). **BUT** after about a couple dozen on/off cycles the switch on mine would not turn the light off. It was stuck permanently in the "on" mode.

So I inverted the battery in the tailgunner position, leading to a net zero voltage applied to the LED = it is off. To turn the light on, I remove the tailcap, invert & reinsert the rear battery (PITA to do in the dark but whatcha gonna do?), and replace the tailcap. Now the light is on. To turn the light off, I remove the tailcap, re-invert the rear battery, and replace the tailcap.

Not handy, but it works. However, due to the inconvenience the Mini-Mag AA is now my backup light in a pack to an Inova X02 that lives in my work vest pocket.
Click to expand...

Maybe you guys are using a different conversion than I am? :confused: Because if my switch failed in the 'on' position, I would turn it off with the bezel, the same way the Mini Mag was originally turned off. Can you not do this with your conversion?

Doc
 
I am not a big fan of tail cap switches for my flashlight in my kit. Too many times I have found my light already on or out of batteries.
 
I am a big fan of tail cap clickie flashlights, although I have zero experience with the minimag conversions I have quite a bit with the Inova t series of lights. Before I put my flashlight away in a pack or anywhere it may be inadvertantly turned on I twist the tail to " lock out " the switch before I put it in my pack. Chris
 
The lock out is a nice feature, my Surefire has it. Unfortunately though, I cannot afford to leave a Surefire or similar expensive light sitting in my kit. The cheaper lights with no lock out feature have all given me problems by accidentally turning on. I don't want to have dead batteries when I really need light.
 
Troutfisher,
Again admitting my ignorance, can you not just unscrew the tail cap until the switch no longer works? Chris
 
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